Christchurch cathedral as it was .....Last week I found myself there for a week or so helping friends finish repair their garden walls etc. One morning I decided I needed a walk so set off around the neighbouring streets. The media feed us stories about the "rebuild" of Christchurch city, maybe they need to take a stroll through suburbia. This is a well to do hillside suburb, full of large elegant family homes, both old and new, with a view of the sea, As I toil my way up the hill I pass homes that look undamaged - the odd thing is, one house is fine, the next (built on a similar section of similar materials) is wrecked. Or will be sometime.Some are broken in half. Some are missing a wall.One still has it's chimney strewn across the roof and a wall covered in black plastic- and two cars parked in the drive- yes, they are still living in it waiting for their home to be fixed. Next door a house has been removed, someone's well loved garden is reclaiming the site, selfsown wallflowers spring up everywhere, and the purple echiums are creeping across the drive. Fruit trees are blossoming, unaware that no one is going to be picking the plums this year to make jam.. I pass a bare section,house demolished, with a sign on the drive advertising the architect's studio/home which once stood there- maybe wouldn't recommend his services!I can only imagine how the people who are living in these broken houses feel. I've watched our friends fight a desperate battle with authorities and insurance company to get their home rebuilt- the stress levels have taken huge tolls on health, both mental and physical. So many others are still fighting for this and living in awful conditions. Arguing about rebuilding "icons" seems callous when you see so many families living in these conditions. But everyone I meet says hello cheerfully, so I walk along picking a big bunch of wallflowers and go back home to continue moving buckets of gravel....